This project comprises of the conversion of an industrial site to the rear of the Tramway Arts Centre into dedicated and unique public gardens.
Overview
PROJECT SUMMARY
The Hidden Gardens is a major environmental resource for the citizens of Glasgow and visitors to Scotland. Comprising of the conversion of an industrial site to the rear of the Tramway Arts Centre into dedicated and unique public gardens.
The design is led by its cultural sensitivity to the diverse communities of Glasgow with particular reference to the Scottish Asian community, this being reflected in the hard landscaping, original artworks and carefully chosen planting structure. The gardens celebrate and invoke the universal spirit of nature, which knows no boundaries or divisions. It aims to become a physical expression of real social change.
The garden is also designed to encourage individual and group usage within the broad framework of a natural and non-denominational sanctuary. It should therefore be seen as a place for reflective, contemplative access and associated activities, maintaining an atmosphere of tranquillity and respite from urban pressures. Care will be taken that planned public events do not impact on the design and philosophy of the Hidden Gardens.
The gardens will be a nurtured rather than a maintained resource, with dedicated staff executing the highest level of horticultural and event management in perpetuity. The gardens will position themselves as a local resource as well as national, working with all local agencies to support relevant environmental and sustainability programmes in the area.
KEY PARTNERS
City Design Co-operative were responsible for the design and landscaping of the site.
Groups and individuals from both communities - Govanhill and East Pollokshields - have been involved in the consultation process, identifying what is needed in the Hidden Gardens and how its use could benefit the area.
Local organisations - Community Councils, Pollokshields Heritage, churches/temples and others - were also consulted, and provided valuable input to the ongoing development of the Hidden Gardens.
Local schools have been involved through the activities of the education officer.
The involvement of external groups has also been critical:
- Various departments and officers from Glasgow City Council including Culture and Leisure Services, Social Work, Community Planning, Community Learning, Cultural Diversity Officer, Special Needs Officer, Community Action Team and many others.
- Organisations dealing with different cultural groups and issues including Meridian, Glasgow Anti-Racist Alliance, Scottish Academy of Asian Arts and Sharing of Faiths
- Environmental organisations which provided support in developing community gardens including British Trust for Conservation Volunteers, the Women's Environment Network, and Thrive.
There has been a developing relationship with Glasgow City Council's Culture and Leisure Department to the point where the Council will provide financial support for the maintenance of the garden until 2005 and at present has adopted a 'goodwill' attitude towards support beyond that.
All the organisations which worked on the project increased their understand and experience of community consultation.
FUNDERS
The Hidden Gardens has attracted over £1 million in both capital and revenue funding from over 25 funders.
Funding Breakdown
Capital
Over £100,000
Scottish Arts Council National Lottery - Artists' Work in Public Places
£50,000 to £100,000
Landfill Tax Credits
Glasgow City Council (in-kind)
£10,000 to £50,000
Tramway 2001
New Opportunities Fund - Fresh Futures
Esmee Fairbairn Foundation
Garfield Weston Trust
Glasgow City Council
The Robertson Trust
Northern Rock Foundation
The Dulverton Trust
The Hanson Trust
The Lankelly Foundation
Under £10,000
Gulbenkian Foundation
Caram Trust
Visiting Arts
The Hope Scott Trust
The Mushroom Trust
The Binks Trust
Ernest Cook Trust
Hugh Fraser Foundation
Revenue
Over £50,000
Scottish Arts Council
Esmee Fairbairn Foundation
Scottish Natural Heritage
Under £50,000
The Lankelly Trust
Glasgow City Council
National Lottery - Access and Participation Scheme
Scottish Executive - Ethnic Minorities Grant Scheme
Gulbenkian Foundation
Northern Rock Foundation
Tramway 2003
THEMATIC CRITERIA
Glasgow Parks / Gardens; Local amenities; education,
Plan
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
The Hidden Gardens was originally conceived in 2000 by the nva organisation.
nva organisation is a recognised arts charity specialising in site specific events. Two of their recent environmental animation events - The Path (2000) set in Glen Lyon, and the Secret Sign (1998) set in the Devil's Pulpit, Drymen - generated a strong audience response and illustrated the need that people have to re-connect with their environment.
Angus Farquhar, the director of nva, felt that a permanent piece - "a spiritual garden for Scotland" - which created a special place in an urban area could provide a lasting resource to support this re-connection.
The Hidden Gardens is also conceived as a response to racism in Scotland, and a celebration of the increasing diversity in our communities. The Garden links culture to horticulture, providing a safe place which reflects many cultures and religions.
The site chosen is situated behind the Tramway Arts Centre, between 2 distinct communities - East Pollokshields, with probably the most concentrated Asian population in Scotland, and Govanhill, a traditional working class area which has been by-passed by regeneration. The 5,000 square metre site was a seed and plant nursery between 1826 and 1868, but has since been used for various industrial activities and has become derelict and overgrown in recent times.
FUTURE STEPS
The opening of the Hidden Gardens in June 2003 marked the start of events and activities. The aim is to develop and expand the Hidden Gardens as a growing resource for the communities which will be handed over to an independent community trust in 2005.
While the gardens will be open to the public from June 2003, there is further development planned for the old boiler-house in one corner of the site. There are plans to turn this into a plant nursery and community resource, providing plants and equipment for the garden and for outreach projects with other communities.
The first year of the Hidden Gardens is important as it will set the tone for who will use the gardens in the future, and how they will be used. The activities and events taking place in the Hidden Gardens during the first year will be carefully programmed to ensure that the balance is kept between different groups, between collective activities and space for individuals, between encouraging involvement and maintaining a safe, quiet place. Proposed activities include creative workshops and cultural and sensory events.
The community consultation with groups and organisation in both Govanhill and East Pollokshields is still in progress. Potential projects are currently being explored with other groups, using the Hidden Gardens and its resources,
Progress
The Hidden Gardens developed through several inter-connected processes. The design, of the landscaping, planting and commissioned art works, was informed by a large programme of community consultation. The project had a relatively rapid start-up, which slowed down to enable the community consultation to have an effect on the design elements. The consultation process shifted the focus of the project towards the eventual use of the space and how it would involve the communities in East Pollokshields and Govanhill. This in turn had an effect on the funding needed for the project.
Community Consultation
The consultation took place over 12 months and included interviews, visits and questionnaires with over 50 different groups. This included groups in the Muslim, Sikh, Hindu, and Chinese communities, asylum seekers, youth groups, elderly groups, arts and crafts groups, mother and toddler groups, special needs groups and many others. During the consultation the needs and aspirations for a 'special place' were explored, and input from all the groups was fed back to the design process.
Consultation also took place with local public and voluntary sector agencies who are already providing a variety of support in the communities e.g. housing associations, community development and youth workers, various officers from departments within Glasgow City Council, etc. This level of consultation explored the possibilities of the Hidden Gardens as a new focus for the area which could generate creative activities, cross cultural links, enterprise, training and job opportunities. This ensured that the project is linked into current and planned provision.
Design
- Site design - This reflects all the different uses of the space in the past, maintaining some of the industrial features such as an existing 100 ft high chimney and reusing stone from old buildings, and echoing the plant nursery that was once there through the pattern of planting. The final layout has been informed by the feedback from the community consultation which identified the need for a safe, peaceful green space. It is designed to accommodate activity ranging from a large celebration to solitary contemplation.
- Horticulture - The design of the planting also reflects the multicultural communities surrounding the garden. Some areas will be seeded with native plants and trees, other areas will be planted to show the relationship between similar species of plants from different parts of the world, and there will be other areas containing exotic, culturally significant species from Asia which were identified during the consultation.
- Artist's works - Throughout the Hidden Gardens will be several works by different artists. Again, many of these works are a response to the community consultation, for example Julie Brook's Circular Rill, a 9 metre diameter circular channel of constantly flowing water reflects many comments about the need for water to be included in the garden. (details about all the artists' work on www.thehiddengardens.co.uk)
Education Programme
An Education Officer worked with six local primary schools over 12 months, running workshops and activities which involved children in the development of the Hidden Gardens, while enhancing national curriculum work in history, archaeology, sacred plants in different cultures, medicinal herbs etc. Local schools were also involved in 'rescuing' 50 birch saplings from the site before clearance work started. These trees were looked after by the schools and returned to the Hidden Gardens when planting started.
A National Schools programme was also part of the development, inviting children aged 9 - 12 from schools across Scotland to record wild plants and secret places native to their own environment. The results of this will be produced as a national almanac of local flora and fauna, a bank of ideas and information from the children of Scotland with links to the Hidden Gardens.
Key Dates
September 2001 - First award of funding for the project from the National Lottery Artists' Work in Public Places through the Scottish Arts Council.
July 2001 - Award from Gulbenkian Foundation for the community consultation process, worker appointed and consultation started.
March 2002 - Launch of garden design.
Summer 2002 - Clearance of site began.
October 2002 - Public event in the Tramway Arts Centre giving a virtual tour of the Hidden Gardens. A week of children's' workshops prior to the event led to children being guides for the virtual tour. Event also included speakers on the links between spirituality/religions and gardens.
June 2003 - Opening of the Hidden Gardens. A series of special events over three days. Over 4000 people attend.
CURRENT ISSUES/ EVENTS
The hidden Gardens will be hoplding three festivals of light to celebrate Diwali, Eid and Christmas between October and December 2003.
Review
ACHIEVEMENTS
The Hidden Gardens opened in June 2003, reclaiming a previously derelict site and turning it into sanctuary garden for the surrounding communities. The Garden will benefit the individuals and groups which use it, provide an additional attraction for visitors to the area and enhance both communities. The project has grown from the original concept to a community resource which has the potential to be a catalyst for a range of creative and regenerative activities. Achievements include:-
- Funding in place for a 2 year programme of workshops and events.
- Over £1 million raised from over 25 different organisations.
- 5 artists involved in producing work for the garden which reflects local concerns and aspirations.
- Over 50 visits and interviews with groups in the local communities, consulting them on ideas for the Hidden Gardens which have been incorporated into the final design.
- Ensuring that the Hidden Gardens will become part of the existing support structure for the area, and link into current and future provision, through building relationships with organisations and forums supporting local residents.
MEASURING ACHIEVEMENTS
The measure of success will be the number of people that use the Hidden Gardens, and also the quality of their experience.
PROCESS
The consultation process has been the key to encouraging local involvement. This process engaged with individuals and groups in their own environment, and used various methods to encourage input to the project, increasing feelings of inclusion and ownership.
Events were held to celebrate key steps in the project, information was circulated regularly and an information point with a model and video display of the Hidden Gardens was set up in the foyer of the Tramway.
The education programme with schools has involved many local children, both in planning and exploring the future of the garden, and in practical work e.g. saving birch saplings from the site. There will be on-going work with these children to increase their sense of involvement and ownership.
The consultation and events were carried out with cultural sensitivity, ensuring that all groups felt respected and welcomed.
There was also a sense of loss in the area, as resources had been lost in both Govanhill (the swimming pool) and East Pollokshields. Involvement was increased by the local feeling that a special place is needed in these communities, somewhere safe where people can come together.
nva plans to set up a management group for the Hidden Gardens, made up of people who want to be part of the development of not just the site, but the whole vision of the project. The aim is to set up an independent trust by 2005 that will take over the management of the garden. This is the long-term goal, with an intermediate stage involving an advisory group, a series of community reviewers and a Friends and Family scheme.
Funding is available for project staff, who will have the role of developing the Hidden Gardens and the associated programme of activities.
The Hidden Gardens will also work with other local organisations, providing gardening support and links to the project for housing associations, special needs groups, health projects etc.
LESSONS
What makes your own space special? - all communities are individual and different, don't just copy a pattern, think about what makes your place special. Every community has its own culture and belief system, think about that and how it can be reflected in your community garden/space.
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